Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Justine Henin and defending champion Serena Williams both lost their quarterfinal matches Tuesday at the Australian Open. In the marquee match of the day, fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova swatted 30 winners on her way to stunning the 2004 Melbourne titlist Henin 6-4, 6-0. Sharapova was last year's Aussie Open runner-up to the three-time champion Williams.
Sharapova dismissed Henin in 1 hour, 38 minutes. The big Russian needed 61 minutes to capture a tight first set, and then cruised in the second in eye-popping fashion.
The Russian recorded 19 more winners than her Belgian counterpart and broke Henin's serve five times, while losing her powerful serve only once throughout the bout.
"It's just incredible," Sharapova said. "I think it was one of the most consistent matches where I did all the things I wanted to do."
The seven-time major champion Henin was riding a 32-match overall winning streak, as she hadn't lost since the Wimbledon semifinals last July and was fresh off a title in Sydney. The diminutive Belgian beat Sharapova in the final at the season-ending Tour Championships back in November and was 6-2 all-time versus Sharapova heading into Tuesday.
"I knew she was in top form and I knew it was going to be tough, so I was ready to fight and give my best, but it wasn't good enough," Henin said after the disappointing setback at the hands of the two-time Grand Slam champ and former world No. 1 Sharapova.
In addition to her title here four years ago, Henin was the Aussie Open runner-up to France's Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.
Earlier Tuesday, third-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic shocked a seventh- seeded Williams 6-3, 6-4, as the American piled up 36 unforced errors on her way to defeat at Melbourne Park.
"My shots just weren't right," Williams said. "I didn't move the way I traditionally want to move, and I wasn't feeling 100 percent."
Jankovic moved on in 1 hour, 39 minutes with the help of a whopping seven service breaks and five double faults by Williams, who broke Jankovic on four occasions to no avail.
"I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," Williams added. "I lost because Jelena played better than me and I made too many errors. I think regardless, the match was on my racket, and I gave it away."
The 22-year-old Jankovic is now 3-2 lifetime against Williams, who was unseeded and ranked 81st in the world when she titled here last year for her eighth career Grand Slam championship.
Jankovic barely escaped the opening round here last week, as she was pushed to a 22-game third-set victory over rising Austrian Tamira Paszek.
The engaging Jankovic should have her hands full with Sharapova here in the semifinals. The Russian is 3-1 lifetime against the Serb, but Jankovic won their last meeting, in a final in Birmingham, in the middle of last season.
Williams also bowed out of the doubles draw here on Day 9, as a seventh-seeded Chinese tandem of Zi Yan and Jie Zheng came from behind to oust an all- Williams pairing of Serena and Venus, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The quarterfinals will conclude here on Wednesday, when fourth-seeded French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia tangles with an eighth-seeded Venus Williams, the reigning Wimbledon champ, and ninth-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova takes on 29th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Venus is a perfect 4-0 lifetime against Ivanovic, including wins at last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open events. Hantuchova is 1-0 versus Radwanska, with the victory coming last year in Zurich.
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